The Great Wall of China has been covered with cement over a 5-mile stretch after orders from Suizhong county’s Cultural Relics Bureau for what is being called a very ugly repair job.
The "wild" stretch of the 700-year-old Great Wall was repaired in 2014, but it’s just now gaining notice as pictures of the repair have surfaced on social media, CNN reported.
Social media users and advocates of the cultural relic have condemned the cemented repair, with "The most beautiful, wild Great Wall flattened” trending on China’s Twitter-like microblog Weibo, according to CNN.
“Glad Venus de Milo is not in China, or someone would get her a new arm,” one user said.
“This cultural relic is now worthless,” another user said, according to Time magazine. “Is this restoration? No, it’s destruction!”
The Great Wall of China Society deputy director Dong Yaohui spoke out about the restoration as well, according to CNN.
“It damaged the original look of the Great Wall and took away the history from the people,” he said. “Although the local government was well intentioned and wanted to restore the bricks of the Wall, the result turned out to be the opposite.”
The restoration could end up having a very negative effect on tourism.
Ms. Yu, who runs a small hotel nearby, told Time magazine that the hotel’s number of visitors has taken a major hit following the restoration.
“My clients have also complained,” she told Time. “Many of them are photography fans and students majoring in painting. They won’t come back again.”
“I was born here, the wild Great Wall was my favorite childhood playground, but now the original shape has gone,” Ms. Yu said. “I wish the local government would return our old Great Wall. But it’s the officials’ decision. As villagers, we can do nothing about it.”
According to CNN, the repair work took place by the border of Liaoning and Hebei province.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.